Robert Horry
Robert Keith Horry (born August 25, 1970 in Harford County, Maryland) is an American professional basketball player. Because of his clutch shooting in important games, he is known as "Big Shot Rob". This name is a play on the nickname of fellow former Laker "Big Game" James Worthy. In his playing career, Horry has won seven NBA championships: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs. Horry is currently a free agent. Basketball career Horry grew up in Andalusia, Alabama. As a senior at Andalusia High School, he won the Naismith Alabama High School Player of the Year award. He attended the University of Alabama on a basketball scholarship, where he was a teammate of fellow future NBA player Latrell Sprewell. Horry's last name is pronounced "Orry", with a silent H. University of Alabama Selected to the All-Southeastern Conference, the SEC All-Defensive and the SEC All-Academic teams. Before arriving at University of Alabama, Horry earned the state's high school Player of the Year Award after averaging 26.9 points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots as a senior at Andalusia High School. At Alabama, Horry started 108 of the 133 games he played in and helped the Tide roll to three SEC tournament titles and two berths in the NCAA's Sweet 16 round. Alabama compiled a 98-36 record during his four seasons, with Robert establishing a school record for career blocked shots (282). He played under the legendary Winfrey Sanderson. Houston Rockets Horry was selected 11th overall in the 1992 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets as a small forward. He spent his first four seasons with the Rockets, helping them win the NBA Championship in 1994 and 1995. While in the Finals, Horry set the individual NBA Finals record with seven steals in a game and five 3-pointers in a quarter. In February 1994, he and Matt Bullard were traded to the Detroit Pistons for Sean Elliott, but Elliott failed a physical because of kidney problems, and the trade was rescinded. Horry has said that the trade falling through probably saved his career. Horry went on to be a key member of the Rockets' title teams and began to lay the foundations for his "Big Shot Rob" reputation After the 2007–2008 season, Robert Horry is now a free agent. Records Horry collected his seventh championship as a member of the Spurs in 2007. He is one of only nine players to have won seven or more championships in the NBA, and the only one who did not play on the 1960s Celtics. Robert Horry is one of only three players to win multiple NBA Championships with two different teams in consecutive seasons. In 2005, he joined John Salley as the only players to win NBA rings with three different teams. He is the all-time leader in playoff games played, having surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the 2008 playoffs. Horry is second on the all-time list of three-pointers made in the playoffs, behind only Reggie Miller. He also holds the record for three-pointers all-time in the NBA Finals with 53, having eclipsed Michael Jordan's previous record of 42. He holds the NBA Playoffs record for most three-point field goals made in a game without a miss (7), against the Utah Jazz in Game 2 of the 1997. Horry has regular season career averages of 7.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Playoff notable clutch shots *May 22, 1995 Western Conference Finals | Western Conference Finals Game 1 | Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs Horry nailed a jumper with 6.5 seconds left to give Houston a 94–93 win over San Antonio in front of over 35,000 at the Alamodome. *June 11, 1995 | NBA Finals Game 3 | Orlando Magic at Houston Rockets With Houston up by one with 14 seconds left and the shot clock winding down, Hakeem Olajuwon kicked a pass out to Horry, who launched a three over Orlando's Horace Grant, propelling the Rockets to a 106–103 victory and a 3–0 series lead on the way to a sweep and back-to-back NBA titles. *May 6, 1997 | Western Conference Semifinals Game 2 | Los Angeles Lakers at Utah Jazz Horry drained all seven of his three-point shots. However, this proved to be not enough as the Lakers lost Game 2 103–101 and ultimately the series 4–1. *June 10, 2002 | NBA Finals Game 3 | Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers With the series tied at 1–1, the Sixers were within one point with under a minute to play and with Shaquille O'Neal on the bench having fouled out for the Lakers. Brian Shaw found Horry in the corner and he drilled the three with 47.1 seconds left to give the Lakers what proved to be an insurmountable four-point lead. The Sixers never recovered. *April 28, 2002 Western Conference Finals | Western Conference First Round Game 3 | Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers Down by two with 10.2 seconds left, Kobe Bryant drove on Ruben Patterson and kicked the ball to Horry, who hit a game-winning three. *May 26, 2002 | Western Conference Finals Game 4 | Sacramento Kings at Los Angeles Lakers The Kings led 99–97 with two seconds left when center Vlade Divac knocked the ball out of the paint after a Shaquille O'Neal missed layup. The ball came to Horry, who launched a game-winning three-pointer as time expired to give the Lakers a 100–99 victory. Instead of going back to Sacramento down 1-3, the shot tied the series at 2-2 and allowed the Lakers to defeat the Kings in 7 games on their way to a third straight championship. *June 19, 2005 | NBA Finals Game 5 | San Antonio Spurs at Detroit Pistons Horry inbounded the ball to Manu Ginobili who was cornered by two Pistons defenders. Ginobili returned the ball to Horry on the left wing, who then hit a three-pointer with 5.9 seconds left to give the San Antonio Spurs a 96–95 victory and a 3–2 series lead heading into Game 6. Horry scored 21 points in fourth quarter and overtime to carry the struggling Spurs. *April 30, 2007 | Western Conference First Round Game 4 | San Antonio Spurs at Denver Nuggets The Spurs led by one with 30 seconds left when Horry hit a game-securing three-point shot, handing the Spurs their fifth straight playoff victory in Denver. Trivia *Robert Horry and another clutch-shooting role player, Steve Kerr, alternated NBA Championships for a decade, and combined to win twelve championships over a fourteen-year period. Either Kerr or Horry was on the roster of every NBA Championship team from the 1993–1994 season through the 2002–2003 season. Horry's teams were victorious in the NBA Finals in 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2007, while Kerr's teams were winners in the NBA Finals in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2003. Each won three titles playing for Phil Jackson-coached teams and every other championship with a team from Texas, the Spurs or the Rockets. *He has worn jersey No. 5 with the Lakers and first 4 seasons with the Spurs and has worn Jersey No. 25 with the Rockets, Suns and the 2007-08 season with the Spurs. *In NBA Live 07, he is featured while the computer explains X-Factor, between setting up the game, and playing the game. *He was also mentioned in the successful Nas song "Can't Forget About You" off the "Hip Hop is Dead" album. *The Christian band Grand Incredible featured him in the song "Robert Horry". NBA career statistics Regular season Playoffs External links *RobertHorry.net *Robert Horry career clutch highlights video at nba.com Category:Houston Rockets players